is much grief

1:18is much grief. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon extolled wisdom and knowledge; in Ecclesiastes, he says it only brings trouble. The difference is that in the one he is speaking of true wisdom and knowledge, as founded on “the fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). In the other, he is lamenting the futility of the pseudo-wisdom and knowledge falsely so called of those who build on humanistic or pantheistic foundations.